Escape
by Miss-Murdered
Summary: Relena escapes a dull charity function with Duo and he introduces her to tequila shots... 2xR get-together. Hinted 1x5. One-shot.


Disclaimer: I own nothin'

Pairings/Warnings: 2xR get together-ness, hinted 1x5, kissing, minor language, drinking, un-beta'd but checked thoroughly

A/N: This is a gift fic for Nachte and also fulfills my desire to write some 2xR.

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**Escape**

The bar was quiet apart from a couple of old guys sharing stories with the bartender while sat on the stools. Relena supposed that's why he'd picked this one, down a back alley, down a side street, its neon sign blinking, broken and the glass front grimy and dirty. No one would think they'd be here – sat in a vinyl booth, the table in front of them sticky with the remnants of alcoholic drinks and the whole place dark and smoky. The beer bottles in front of her attested to the night they were having, four in the centre of the table, their labels peeled off and a coin stuck inside one as he'd done a magic trick to impress her that she wasn't sure how he'd done. She glanced over to the bar to see him ordering drinks, little shot glasses lined up and she knew what would happen next and that people would be worrying about her location, but right now she didn't care.

As she should've been at the charity gala for the War Widows Association and she should've been sat next to some old politicians who patronised her and eating a plate of food that cost so damn much for so little on the porcelain. But all that had changed when Duo Maxwell knocked at her hotel suite, her bodyguard for the evening and the sight of him, the suit, tight and the skinny tie and the smirk and his "hello Princess" had made her stomach flip a little and she'd smiled at him, told him not to call her Princess and then the obligations started.

Yet not for long. She'd milled around, talked to people, all with Duo close by until finally she looked over to her head of security, noticing him leaning close to Wufei, and talking into his ear.

"Heero's distracted," she'd told Duo, a mischievous grin on her face.

Duo had rolled his eyes. "Hey, I don't know if I can risk it… after the 'cheeseburger incident' Heero threatened to hurt me in many, many painful ways…"

The 'cheeseburger incident' was still one that Relena thought about, when Duo had taken her to get cheeseburger and fries during a peace conference, sneaking her out, taking her to somewhere where the seats were plastic and the lighting was harsh and the food was greasy. She'd complained to him once about the food at those things and that was it. Duo was dragging her away, dragging her to a bus and to some burger place, ordering her a cheeseburger and fries and a strawberry milkshake, her watching as he dunked salty fries into creamy milkshake, disgusted until she too tried. The salty/sweat thing oddly pleasant. And then he had ketchup on his nose and she'd leaned over the enamel table, brushed it off, and seen his eyes widen and him lick his salty lips and then… Then she might've leaned forward to kiss him had Heero not turned up, spent the next five minutes in a heated argument with Duo as the rest of her security personnel took her back to the venue in a blacked out car.

That was the last time Duo had been allowed to work her security team. Until this time.

Relena had turned towards him, smiled and teased. "And you're meant to be the rebel Gundam pilot. The bad boy."

"I am!" he'd protested, "I mean, hell, I ain't like Mr. Stick-in-the-Mud and Mr. Stick-up-the-Ass."

"Which is which?"

Duo had shrugged theatrically. "Does it matter? Both of them are damn boring and can be damn boring together for the rest of their boring days."

It then had taken little persuasion, Duo's pride at being the "cool" pilot at stake and she was look out as he hotwired a Preventer town car, driving them away from the home of some well-to-do politician and their simpering wife, to park up near the bar, walking down a cobbled side street until they'd arrived.

And now here she was, a little tipsy, and there he was, carrying over those shots, and her eyes lingered. Everyone thought she'd be in love with Heero Yuy and maybe, maybe, at fifteen she had been but that was then. She was now nineteen and Heero had found some version of happiness and peace with Wufei and she had dated good-looking charming men but no one that excited her, no one that made her laugh and smile. And though she adored Heero, he was never going to be what she wanted even if he hadn't been gay.

But watching Duo, she unconsciously licked her lips, straightened her hair and skirt as he walked across the bar. He'd been wearing a suit but when they made their escape, he'd removed the jacket, the tie, undoing the a few buttons and Relena could see the enticing hint of a tattoo that matched those on his arms. And then he'd rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, showing more black and grey ink that she never knew he had and she had tried not to stare at them as she drank her beers. Tried not to embarrass herself at his bright blue eyes and that little quirk of lips thing he did. Or the way he tried to make her laugh. All those things she liked about him – that he slouched when he should stand up straight, that he didn't treat her any different to anybody and that, maybe that's why she liked this, being in some scuzzy bar drinking with him.

"You ready for this, Princess?" he asked, putting down the shots and she looked at them suspiciously.

"Don't Princess me," she said in mock annoyance as he slid into the booth, "as I am more than ready."

"Okay… wanna go for the tequila?"

He placed the shot down in front of her and she looked at it suspiciously. "I thought you had lemon and salt with it?"

"Ugh…let's just say this ain't a classy bar and you're just gonna have to drink it straight."

Relena steeled herself, grabbed for glass and smelt it, her nose wrinkling. Duo laughed but she ignored that. Yes, she was not experienced with alcohol but she had stolen whiskey and cognac from her father's study as a child, drinking it illicitly and giggling. It was nothing worse than that, she reasoned and downed the shot, feeling the burn of it on her throat. She slammed the glass down, coughed, and wiped her hand across her mouth.

"You okay?"

"Fine," she said through another cough.

"We can totally stop doing shots… maybe we need to work up your alcohol experience level or somethin'."

"No! Hand me another."

Duo whistled, an eyebrow raised. "Whatever you say…"

The next shot burnt, as did the next one and by the third, Duo had stopped watching her and was downing them too, the bartender just brought the bottle over and Duo poured them, dribbling the alcohol onto the table. She felt buzzed as they continued and she couldn't help gravitating towards Duo, moving around the booth to him, and when she reached out to grab the bottle to pour some more, his hand wrapped around her wrist gently and she felt hot as she met his eyes.

"I think you've had enough, Princess."

The way he said 'Princess' didn't make her angry this time and instead, she moved her hand to reach to his arm, travelling up his forearm, tracing those tattoos. There were Latin phrases and roses and a Rosary and a scythe that she could see and she wondered what ink was underneath that white shirt and she swallowed.

"They're… beautiful."

Duo made a little "huh" noise as Relena ran her fingers over the ink. "No one ever called 'em that."

"What do they mean?"

"A lot of things," he said, and he held her hand, the thrill of his big palm over hers, the calluses, the heat of it, and he dragged her fingertip to a cross, "this is for the church orphanage I grew up in… ended up burnt to the ground by the Alliance." Relena wanted to make a noise but he just shook his head. "Long time ago, no point crying over it… and this one…" her finger drifted to the scythe guided by his, "is for my ol' buddy, of course, still miss piloting."

Duo dropped her hand and she awkwardly returned it to her lap and she felt like fidgeting, moving, doing something but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do and there was a fuzziness to her tongue and her head.

"You like being a Preventer, right?"

He laughed. "Oh yeah, getting paid to carry a gun and fight is a fuck ton better than being a kid soldier in the middle of a war zone, lemme tell ya… but naw, nothing feels like piloting 'Scythe."

His expression was far off, distant, solemn and Relena looked at his profile, at the man Duo Maxwell had become and she was about to lean forward, do something foolish when Duo reached for his pocket, bringing out his cell and he looked at it, getting to his feet.

"Suppose I better turn it back on and tell 'Ro you ain't dead or captured before he has a damn seizure or somethin'."

Relena looked vaguely disappointed but when he gave her a little grin, a warmth spread in her chest and she forgot that disappointment. "You need water and bed, m'lady and I need to get you back safe."

The phone buzzed to life and Duo made a call and while Relena did not know what the other person on the line said, she could hear Duo's tone and guessed that he was dealing with a very pissed Heero Yuy.

"She's fine… no I swear, I got a gun… I can protect her… yeah… we're at a bar… oh fuck, don't give me that… no, she's not drunk…okay she _may _be tipsy but come on… Okay, yeah, we'll stay here and you send the car…"

Duo removed the phone from his ear and rolled his eyes and then returned it to his face. "Hate you too, Yuy," he said and cut the call. "Our chariot will be here in five. Maybe we get a little air, sober up and all."

He offered one of his hands and she slid out of the booth, her dress seeming to stick in the vinyl, her heels making a loud noise over the grimy floor and she looked back to see the beer bottles, the mostly empty tequila and grabbed hold of Duo's arm tight whether for support or something else she wasn't sure.

Once they stepped outside, she shivered and Duo produced his jacket from _somewhere _placing it over her shoulders and it smelt like him, engine oil and cologne and the lingering smell of cigarettes.

"Did he… threaten you again?" she asked as she kept close to him.

"Ahh yeah but I'm sure he's used that one before… you know, to cut off my braid and shove it down my throat until I choke. Sounds familiar. But hey… a Heero death threat makes my working week complete, Princess… so don't feel bad."

"Don't…" she said and he turned to look at her fully, his eyes concerned. "Don't call me Princess."

"But your majesty, your highness or Queenie just sounds lame… so…"

Duo was continuing to speak but she didn't hear him over the hammering of her heart and she remembered when she'd brushed ketchup off his nose and how his hand felt as it touched her own as she leant up, leaning up to press their lips together. It was brief, a press, nothing more as he didn't exactly push her away, but Duo did not respond.

"Uhhh… Relena…"

"No… I guess you don't…" she said and then looked down at her expensive pumps and the beautifully designed dress and back to him and his tattoos and the dirty scuzzy bar. Too different. What was she thinking? "I'm sorry…"

He shrugged, put his hand behind his head in that way she'd seen him do before, an awkward gesture as he scratched underneath the braid. "Naw… I just… it's not really appropriate… You gotta fuck ton more options than me."

"Maybe I don't want those options. Maybe I want the 'bad boy Gundam pilot' who buys me cheeseburgers and tequila."

"Yeah?" he asked, a hand now on her jaw, his awkward gesture replaced with some of his trademark cockiness. "You know, I can't always be the 'bad-boy-cheeseburgers-and-tequila' guy."

"I can deal," she replied, one of his own phrases and he cupped her chin as they moved instinctively closer.

Relena felt a giddiness that maybe came from alcohol, maybe came from running away from that party and doing something wrong, but mostly it came from kissing Duo Maxwell, the feel of his lips, the taste of his mouth, tequila and peanuts, the smell of his cologne and the hand on her chin was now on her back, pulling her in closer to his body, and she moved, wanting the closeness, the heat, the firm press of his muscles. She reached to his back, to feel the strength underneath a white shirt and she wanted… she wanted so many things but the rumble of an engine interrupted that. They stepped away from each other as the headlight beams glared and Duo's word was "wow" mouthed to her, which she looked away, trying to be demure, trying to have some etiquette rather than invite him back to her hotel suite.

When the car doors opened, she spotted Heero, his face set in angry line and she saw Duo roll his eyes, readying himself for the fight but she stepped in his way, putting herself in the line of fire.

"I asked him, Heero," she said, pleading.

"It endangered you."

"Well, what's life without a little danger, 'Ro?"

The glare in response actually shut Duo up and Relena looked back between the two men – her protector who kept her caged in the life where she was safe and the man who took her away from that and she walked forward, grabbed hold of Duo's head, lacing her fingers through his hair to feel it's softness and she dragged him into a kiss like she'd never given anyone, the slide of her tongue confident and assured, diving into his mouth, and when they broke apart he looked shocked, flushed, his tongue licking along his lips.

"Good night, Duo," she said, and turned towards an equally stunned Heero, "and thank you."

Without any more arguments about her safety, Relena got in the Preventer town car, nodding in the direction of Wufei in the driver's seat as Heero spoke angrily to Duo before he got into the passenger side. They drove off, Duo left where he was who gave her a salute and a wink as they passed and she buried her face in his jacket, smelling him, tasting him still on his tongue.

When Relena arrived back to the hotel, stripping away her clothes, the vid-phone blinked and she toed off her heels and she walked towards it, smiling when the message played and Duo's face appeared.

"As I didn't say goodnight and all… sweet dreams, Princess… and you are one helluva kisser. Let's do it again sometime."

Duo signed off with a wave and a little grin and she turned towards the bed, running the pad over her thumb over her lips, thinking of how to reply as yes, she wanted to that again sometime. And so much more.


End file.
